Bottles of Sichuan Shui Jing Fang, also known as Sichuan Swellfun Co., liquor stand on a shelf at a store in Shanghai, China

Diageo’s convoluted deal to acquire premium Chinese liquor maker Sichuan Swellfun Co. marks an upping of the ante for the U.K. company’s efforts to crack China–assuming regulators give the go-ahead. We have identified other potential targets, although given the nature of the Chinese market it’s best not to bank on an immediate flurry of similar deals by international spirits firms.

True, to quench their thirst for Chinese market share, Diageo and other multinationals could consider capital tie ups, joint ventures and direct investment with local players to expand their infrastructure and distribution network in the country. But there’s limited room for such deals.

The London-based company is coming from a weak China position versus a competitor like France’s Pernod Ricard, which was among the top 15 largest spirits companies in China by total volume in 2009, according to EuroMonitor. So to some degree Diageo is playing catch-up in rejigging its geographic revenue mix away from the structurally weak U.S. market.

With better and larger China footprints, other multinationals probably need to find domestic players with market share as large, if not larger, than the CNY8.8 billion ($1.28 billion) enterprise-value of Swellfun to get a decent bang for their buck from equity stakes or joint ventures. Given how unconsolidated the local market for stiff drinks is, their options are few.